Wake the Morning After
Story Recap Back in the day, Natalie cured Nick's vampirism; they got married. Two decades later, something has gone terribly wrong. Notes Written as a gift for melissatreglia in FK Fic Fest 2015 (released 25 August). The story was beta'd by lastscorpion. Length: 14,967 words. Written to the prompts: “Please don't argue. You have to leave right now—you're not safe here.” plus (gen) “Better to live on beggar's bread/With those we love alive,/Than taste their blood in rich feasts spread,/And guiltily survive!” Quotes * "Twenty-some years ago, shortly before Captain Stonetree had retired and the homicide squad had relocated to the 96th precinct, everything had come together in the quest to make Nick human again. Pieces found, puzzle assembled; cure administered, case closed. The years immediately after, while Nick’s reflexes, instincts and immune system had slowly adjusted to his mortal reality, had been often embarrassing and sometimes harrowing. But once Nick had had confidence that he really could live and love as a human being, he’d asked Natalie to share that life and love. She’d accepted." * "Stay in the sunlight. Natalie felt like she was falling. Two decades crumbled beneath her. She plummeted back through the years, all the triumphs and tragedies, until she landed with a thump on the night a corpse awoke on her autopsy table." Author's Notes * "This story diverges from canon during the hiatus, the eighteen months between season one and season two. Subsequent history runs parallel (for example, Lacroix frames Nick and the fever kills Screed) but alternate (for example, without Nick, Schanke doesn’t catch Dollard and so isn’t on the plane with Cohen)." Comments * "Everybody here is just super in-character, and I loved the plot, too. And the ending was absolutely classic, and exactly the sort of thing that would happen in the finest FK episodes. Awesome all around!" — excerpted from comment by lastscorpion on AO3 ** "First-season and the hiatus are my favorite time in FK by far. It was a very interesting project to strive to merge a hiatus sensibility into a post-series setting." — excerpted from reply by brightknightie on AO3 * "Eeeeee! I love this fic to itty bitty bits! I love how you weaved in the vetala of Hindu mythology, and the ancient Egyptian medicine!" — comment by MelissaTreglia on AO3 ** "I'm so glad that the mythological bits and bobs registered for you; I hunted them up especially to try to match your list of what you like to read. I wasn't sure whether I'd find a happy compromise for you, between your and my preferred shades of FK interpretations, so I tried to shore it up with all the freestanding components that I could. (I hope the broken rake wasn't too terribly obvious by the time it made its way back into Nick's hands. I felt almost as if I had conversations with Natalie and Joan, respectively, about whether they would be the ones to stake Lacroix, and they both considered it for me, but then handed it on.)" — excerpted from reply by brightknightie on AO3 * "I am forever and amazed at the details you use within your writings. This is rich, well-thought out. The various points that turn us to an AU history make perfect sense, and your mythos is wonderful." — comment by Merfilly on AO3' ** "I spent one ridiculously delightful day-off just hunting from one Wikipedia link to another to construct this cure for vampirism; I knew that I needed a "McGuffin," and as Melissa likes mythology, I got carried away trying to string together "real myths" that she might recognize." — excerpted from reply by brightknightie on AO3 * "This is fabulous! I only meant to read a chapter this evening and ended up gulping down the whole thing!" — comment by coralysendria on AO3 * "Like coralysendria, I was going to read just a chapter tonight. Hah! No such luck. Girl, this is wonderful! And, generally I prefer to skip stories that are over 10K – too much work. But this so totally hangs together. Not a false note in it." — excerpted from comment by WaltD on AO3 * "I've read through the entire story yesterday evening, but I needed a few hours in order to contemplate on Lacroix's role before attempting a comment. I was pleased when he finally made an appearance (although I suspected his previous involvement) only to have him killed again the next moment. Then I realized that this Lacroix and this Nick did not experience the 2 years of season 2 and 3 during which they grew closer again up to the point of "closest friend". So their encounter after 20 years is basically the same state as in "Dark Knight" when they meat after a long time. (Long-term separation is really not healthy for them;)). Countering Nick's scientific approach with his own scientific pet is a brilliant move. And using the other cured vampires as guinea-pigs in order to get it right with Nick is certainly not nice but well in line with his character. Certainly he felt betrayed by them taking the cure and therefore cut his protection of his extended family, i.e. Serena. I'm glad that Janette refused to take the cure. / That the very weapon that "kills" (I'm convinced his ashes will regenerate) him was created only because Nick accidentally broke the rake by applying too much vampiric force is wonderfully ironic." — excerpted from comment by PJ1228 on AO3 ** "Thank you very much for reading and for commenting! I know that the twist of killing Lacroix is not at all for you, and that you and I have very deeply different understandings of and preferences in FK and its characters, of course. / I saw that element as a progression of three encounters between Nick and Lacroix. First, that in "Dark Knight," exactly as it happened in canon (Nick alone against Lacroix). Second, that in "Killer Instinct," here different because Nick had recently become human at that time and Schanke was with him, and Nick threatened to choose the Light if Lacroix tried to bring him across again (Nick with Schanke against Lacroix). Third, that here in this story (Nick with his family -- and Schanke -- against Lacroix). Where exactly Janette stands in (or around, or against) that progression, I would have loved to have explored, given more time." — excerpted from reply by brightknightie on AO3 See Also Category:Fan Fiction Category:Works by Amy R. Category:PG13-Rated Fan Fiction Category:Novelette Category:Drama Category:Futurefic Category:Alternative Universe Category:Fan Fiction from 2015